One of the operations in making electric cables, and various other products, is the wrapping of one or more layers of tape around the product as it moves longitudinally with continuous motion. In order to avoid interrupting the continuous longitudinal movement of the product, it is necessary to splice additional reels of tape to the trailing end of a tape which is almost all used.
In order to connect a new length of tape it is necessary to stop the movement of the trailing end of the previous reel of tape long enough to make a necessary splice. With one end of the tape stationery, the other end must be moving continously to maintain the supply of tape for wrapping on the cable or other product.
This is done by using tape accumulators which accumulate a supply of tape while there is ample tape on the supply reel; and the accumulator is capable of feeding out the accumulated tape while the trailing end of the tape remains stationery during a splicing operation.
This invention is an improved rotational tape accumulator which is of simple mechanical construction and at the same time capable of accumulating large quantities of tape in an accumulator of small size.
The preferred embodiment of the invention has angularly spaced supports over which the tape passes as it travels through the accumulator, and these supports have relative rotary movement with respect to one another in such a way as to accumulate two reels of tape within the accumulator with the accumulation supplied to each reel from the inside of the reel.
Since the convolutions of tape in each reel cannot slide over one another to change the circumference or perimeter of each accumulated reel, it is necessary to have the supports move radially inward as the number of convolutions on each accumulated reel of tape acquires more convolutions.
Other objects, advantages and features of the invention will appear as the disclosure proceeds.